Edible Packaging (by Yoonhye Kim)

As people around the world is aware of the environment, there are more products getting invented that are ‘green,’ this means reduction of materials, chemical use and much more. But one of the most wasteful things are packaging. The packaging is important when it comes to selling the product, it act as an advertisement tool which draws people into buying the products. This cause companies to create pretty packaging without giving thoughts of being green. Some companies have started to make packaging out of recycled paper, plastic and more. But there has been a better solution that is more fun and much more environmentally friendly. The company called WikiFoods has been inspired by fruits to create an edible packaging. For example, one of their product is called Wikipearl. It is a frozen yogurt ball surrounded by edible skin that is made out of fruit or coconut particles and a seaweed extract. This product leads to the idea of selling or buying product without the need of plastic or packaging wrapped around the product. Their ideal selling method will be having a bulk of pearls in the bucket that people can scoop as much as they wish to.

These interesting methods of creating ‘packaging’ are interesting to see. There are still problems that need to be address, but these companies’ willingness to experiment with new materials are very important and something that every companies should consider of.